Does Facebook really present any Marketing Value?

Social Media is currently a huge buzz in marketing circles and it seems that every marketing decision maker, regardless of their level of understanding or any insight into the value of the medium, has listed social media as a top priority of their current marketing plans. I think there is plenty of value in some social media tools, but I struggle to find the value in others, like Facebook.

In my opinion, for social media to be an effective marketing tool, a company needs to be part of a dialogue with its consumers. Social media users are not engaged simply for one way conversation, and this is where I think most companies go incredibly wrong. It's my opinion that marketing via social media is most effective when its reactive. In other words, the response from a company is more important to their brand than posting messages about the value of their product. And Facebook is primarily a tool that is driven by posting something about one's self or the product one is trying to sell.

Other tools, like twitter, allow marketers to see what people are saying about them, and react in a public way. I find this to be significantly more valuable to brand identity and loyalty than simply posting about how great a product is hoping the people will read it and comment about it.

Facebook is essentially narcissistic. And I don’t think that works for brands. Consumers want their problems solved. Hence I find a more reactive approach through social media to be a more effective approach to building consumer loyalty.